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Sawtooth oak

Quercus acutissima · Fagaceae · all Quercus records

Your local evidence lens

Separate evidence questions, never one approval badge

Set a ZIP to compare this record with state distribution, native range, USDA hardiness, and invasive records.

A genus split is not a placement verdict. Set a ZIP to read the local documented split.

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence: Fire-resistant — location does not change the cited classification.
Fire-performance conditions: No test or rating condition is normalized.
Fire ecology context: No section-reviewed fire-ecology context is normalized.
Placement evidence: 1 source placement record; source schemes remain separate.
Evidence regions: Global; eastern US
Maintenance: No sourced horticultural maintenance assertion is normalized; fire-test conditions do not supply maintenance advice.

2. Why this plant is relevant here

State distribution: Documented in AL, DC, DE, GA, LA, MD, MS, NC, NJ, OH, PA, VA, WV.
Native range: No current cited or legacy state native range is normalized.
Introduced / established: 13 sourced range or established records; set a location to match them. This is not an invasive warning.
USDA hardiness: Documented minimum 5b; no upper limit is documented.

3. Legal, ecological, and broader status

Legal-list status: Set a location for an exact legal-list result; source silence is not clearance.
Seed-list status: Set a location to compare the separate state noxious-weed seed layer.
Reported invasive here: No ecological invasive report is normalized; that does not prove noninvasiveness.
Broader regional context: Aggregate AK, HI, and L48 evidence is shown only as regional context, never as an exact-state finding.
Federal context: Federal designations remain separate from state legal-list results.

How to read this page

The status above is computed from the cited rows below: independent recommendations can support a fire-resistant result, an avoid row can produce keep-away, and disagreement stays visible as conflict. Placement notes preserve each source’s own scheme rather than translating unlike rules into one scale. This is evidence about a plant, not permission to plant it in every part of the defensible space; Zone 0 remains noncombustible.

Sawtooth oak (Quercus acutissima) — Photo: (c) Daniel J. Layton, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY), via iNaturalist. Species-typical, not necessarily this cultivar.

Form: tree
USDA hardiness: Minimum 5b; upper limit not documented
Mature height: ~50 ft
Light: Full sun
Water need: moderate
Grows in: AL, DC, DE, GA, LA, MD, MS, NC +5
Rated in: Global; eastern US
Family: Fagaceae
Evidence: 18 cited sources

Native and introduced range evidence

These are exact U.S. botanical-area records from the cited range source. Native and introduced describe biogeographic relationship, not fire performance or planting approval. Doubtful and extinct rows stay visible but do not count as current presence.

Current native

0

exact source areas

Current introduced

12

exact source areas

Qualified

0

doubtful or extinct source rows

12 introduced source areas · World Checklist of Vascular Plants, version 16 v16, as of 2026-06-04

Alabama (AL)
Arkansas (AR)
District of Columbia (DC)
Kentucky (KY)
Louisiana (LA)
Maryland (MD)
Missouri (MO)
Mississippi (MS)
North Carolina (NC)
New Jersey (NJ)
Pennsylvania (PA)
Tennessee (TN)

The lossless worldwide derivative is retained once in the research corpus; object pages repeat only exact U.S. areas needed by the local lens. The JSON twin carries the same page assertions.

Plant hardiness evidence

These values describe the plant source. Your ZIP zone comes from the separate 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Whole-zone values stay whole-zone, and a single unresolved value is not treated as a tolerance range. Different source boundaries stay separate: overlapping statements are compared independently, while only ranges with no shared zone are called a conflict.

Eastern United States Fire Performance Plant Selector · record quercus-acutissima · 2016-wayback · as of 2026-08-26

Source prints 6 · single-value meaning unresolved · whole zone precision · source stated

Source taxon: Quercus acutissima · exact match.

Source location: Cold Hardiness Zone field in the recovered selector record.

Not used for comparison: The recovered selector prints one Cold Hardiness Zone value but does not define it as a minimum threshold or a one-zone range.
USDA PLANTS Database — Plant Characteristics · record QUAC80 · PLANTS Help Document 2022; characteristics cache retrieved 2026-08-23 · as of 2026-08-26

Minimum 5b · no upper limit documented · half zone precision · derived containing band

Exact source measurement: -13°F; mapped only to its containing half-zone.

Source taxon: Quercus acutissima · source identifier match.

Source location: PlantCharacteristics record 70164, Temperature, Minimum (°F).

Where its sources say to plant it

Placement rules below use each source's own distances or named zones, tied to its rating. They are not interchangeable with the directory's current Zone 0 guidance.

Eastern United States Fire Performance Plant Selector: Landscape Zone 3 — 10–30 ft from the structure; thin vegetation, remove debris, and minimize plant massing [Fire Performance Plant Selector landscape zone] (with its recommendation)

The evidence

Grouped by what each source concluded. Primary evidence rated the plant itself (a lab, field program, or original curation); corroboration compiled or republished another source's rating and resolves to its root lineage.

Listed without a rating (17)

FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database — Dryad / Global Ecology and Biogeography · Dryad version 9 · original source Corroboration Trait database lineage: meta-aggregator

17 cited rows from this source; its identity, lineage and tier are stated once.
- “energy flux (kW/m²): 375.7” · score 375.7 (FLAMITS — energy flux (kW/m²))
  
  FLAMITS record 1189; Combustibility measurement; plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying no; device calorimeter; site Chung2010-1; sampling ND. Primary study Chung2010: Chung, Y. J. (2010). Comparison of combustion properties of native wood species used for fire pots in Korea. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 16, 15-19.
- “total smoke release (m²/m²): 206.9” · score 206.9 (FLAMITS — total smoke release (m²/m²))
  
  FLAMITS record 1193; Consumability measurement; plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying no; device calorimeter; site Chung2010-1; sampling ND. Primary study Chung2010: Chung, Y. J. (2010). Comparison of combustion properties of native wood species used for fire pots in Korea. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 16, 15-19.
- “smoke specific extinction area (m²/kg): 79.8” · score 79.8 (FLAMITS — smoke specific extinction area (m²/kg))
  
  FLAMITS record 1197; Combustibility measurement; plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying no; device calorimeter; site Chung2010-1; sampling ND. Primary study Chung2010: Chung, Y. J. (2010). Comparison of combustion properties of native wood species used for fire pots in Korea. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 16, 15-19.
- “flaming duration (s): 518” · score 518 (FLAMITS — flaming duration (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 1201; Sustainability measurement; plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying no; device calorimeter; site Chung2010-1; sampling ND. Primary study Chung2010: Chung, Y. J. (2010). Comparison of combustion properties of native wood species used for fire pots in Korea. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 16, 15-19.
- “time to flaming (s): 6.28” · score 6.28 (FLAMITS — time to flaming (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 5683; Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device burning bench; site Kim1994-1; sampling ND. Primary study Kim1994: Kim, K., Jang, I., & Kim, S. (1994). Moisture content of litter layer and its combustibility by cigarette light in forests. Korean Journal of Ecology (Korea Republic), 17, 1-9.
- “time to flaming (s): 3.46” · score 3.46 (FLAMITS — time to flaming (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 5692; Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device burning bench; site Kim1994-1; sampling ND. Primary study Kim1994: Kim, K., Jang, I., & Kim, S. (1994). Moisture content of litter layer and its combustibility by cigarette light in forests. Korean Journal of Ecology (Korea Republic), 17, 1-9.
- “time to flaming (s): 25” · score 25 (FLAMITS — time to flaming (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 6541; Ignitability measurement; plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Lee2013-1; sampling ND. Primary study Lee2013: Lee, J.-H., & Kim, D. (2013). Combustion properties for tree species of major structural components of traditional wooden buildings. Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation, 13, 17-22.
- “mass loss rate (g/s): 0.08” · score 0.08 (FLAMITS — mass loss rate (g/s))
  
  FLAMITS record 6542; Combustibility measurement; plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Lee2013-1; sampling ND. Primary study Lee2013: Lee, J.-H., & Kim, D. (2013). Combustion properties for tree species of major structural components of traditional wooden buildings. Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation, 13, 17-22.
- “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2529.37” · score 2529.37 (FLAMITS — calorific value (kcal/kg))
  
  FLAMITS record 6543; Combustibility measurement; plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Lee2013-1; sampling ND. Primary study Lee2013: Lee, J.-H., & Kim, D. (2013). Combustion properties for tree species of major structural components of traditional wooden buildings. Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation, 13, 17-22.
- “maximum sample temperature (°C): 510” · score 510 (FLAMITS — maximum sample temperature (°C))
  
  FLAMITS record 6544; Combustibility measurement; plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Lee2013-1; sampling ND. Primary study Lee2013: Lee, J.-H., & Kim, D. (2013). Combustion properties for tree species of major structural components of traditional wooden buildings. Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation, 13, 17-22.
- “total heat release (MJ/m²): 161.3” · score 161.3 (FLAMITS — total heat release (MJ/m²))
  
  FLAMITS record 6545; Combustibility measurement; plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Lee2013-1; sampling ND. Primary study Lee2013: Lee, J.-H., & Kim, D. (2013). Combustion properties for tree species of major structural components of traditional wooden buildings. Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation, 13, 17-22.
- “burning duration (s): 40” · score 40 (FLAMITS — burning duration (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 6546; Sustainability measurement; plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Lee2013-1; sampling ND. Primary study Lee2013: Lee, J.-H., & Kim, D. (2013). Combustion properties for tree species of major structural components of traditional wooden buildings. Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation, 13, 17-22.
- “energy flux (kW/m²): 100.16” · score 100.16 (FLAMITS — energy flux (kW/m²))
  
  FLAMITS record 6547; Combustibility measurement; plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Lee2013-1; sampling ND. Primary study Lee2013: Lee, J.-H., & Kim, D. (2013). Combustion properties for tree species of major structural components of traditional wooden buildings. Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation, 13, 17-22.
- “energy flux (kW/m²): 183.1” · score 183.1 (FLAMITS — energy flux (kW/m²))
  
  FLAMITS record 19211; Combustibility measurement; plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Chung2008-1; sampling ND. Primary study Chung2008: Chung, Y. J., & Spearpoint, M. (2008). Combustion properties of native Korean wood species. International Journal on Engineering Performance-Based Fire Codes, 9, 11825.
- “flaming duration (s): 518” · score 518 (FLAMITS — flaming duration (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 19215; Sustainability measurement; plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Chung2008-1; sampling ND. Primary study Chung2008: Chung, Y. J., & Spearpoint, M. (2008). Combustion properties of native Korean wood species. International Journal on Engineering Performance-Based Fire Codes, 9, 11825.
- “smoke specific extinction area (m²/kg): 24.47” · score 24.47 (FLAMITS — smoke specific extinction area (m²/kg))
  
  FLAMITS record 19219; Combustibility measurement; plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Chung2008-1; sampling ND. Primary study Chung2008: Chung, Y. J., & Spearpoint, M. (2008). Combustion properties of native Korean wood species. International Journal on Engineering Performance-Based Fire Codes, 9, 11825.
- “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2727.62” · score 2727.62 (FLAMITS — calorific value (kcal/kg))
  
  FLAMITS record 19223; Combustibility measurement; plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Chung2008-1; sampling ND. Primary study Chung2008: Chung, Y. J., & Spearpoint, M. (2008). Combustion properties of native Korean wood species. International Journal on Engineering Performance-Based Fire Codes, 9, 11825.

Last verified 2026-08-23. JSON (CC BY 4.0)

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Quercus acutissima (Sawtooth oak). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/quercus-acutissima/. Last verified 2026-08-23.